RUTO IS OUR NEXT PRESIDENT WHY/ READ THIS FIRST

There are two questions currently dominating Kenya’s political scene. The first one is who is going to be the next president of Kenya and the second is (given how much pain and anguish these presidential contests have brought us in the past) why do people still care anymore? Both these questions are very important. For me they represent the biggest debate this country should be having at this moment since they summarise, in just a few words, why it is important to elect the right leader as president in the next election. Have no doubts about it ladies and gentlemen, this coming election is the big one. The stakes have never been higher for this country to elect the right candidate for the presidency, that’s why I would like to advise you my fellow countrymen to elect Eldoret North MP William Ruto as the next president of Kenya. There are no ifs and buts about it. Ruto is the right man for the job period. Since he was plucked from obscurity by retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi (the old man had so much faith in the Eldoret North MP he allowed him to be the first assistant minister ever to seat at a meeting of the cabinet. How’s that for unprecedented? Ruto has distinguished himself as a dedicated servant of the people. Most recently he excelled as Higher Education Minister and also in the Ministry of Agriculture. In the former he advocated for both parallel and regular students in universities to get access to HELB loans and also called for more emphasis to be put in the learning of technical subjects at our universities. But it was at the Ministry of Agriculture that Ruto truly excelled. As minister he pushed successfully for a subsidy on the importation of fertilizer. This allowed farmers to get easy access to fertilizer with the result that crop yield and food security increased exponentially. As Minister for Agriculture Ruto also helped tea and coffee farmers to get better returns for their produce in the international market. The Eldoret North MP also helped farmers in arid and semi-arid areas to come up with new and innovative ways of keeping their crops irrigated so as to stave off the problem of famine. Besides his achievements as a Minister Ruto has also proven himself to be a God fearing leader who has managed to keep the faith even though he operates in a field that values moral ambiguity. To be truthful, Ruto’s name has been mentioned in some corruption scandals but the charges have never stuck simply because they are not true. In Kenya there is a bad tendency to equate a charge with a conviction. Sometimes it feels like the concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is completely alien to us a people. This applies to Hague cases too. Let us be fair on Ruto and his lot and give them the benefit of doubt until the court makes its ruling. But back to the election. Kenyans need a president who has a bold vision for this country and one who also understands the struggles of the ordinary mwananchi. It’s for this reason that I think we should all vote for William Ruto as the next president of this country.